Rebirth of the Lambertus Cathedral

The Lambertus Cathedral

Many in Europe still mourn the destruction of the Lambertus Cathedral in Liége, Belgium during the Lüttich Revolution, which lasted from 1794 to 1820. Now the building, which was once one of Europe's largest cathedrals, is celebrating its rebirth: as a bronze model at a scale of 1:100. The template for the investemnt casting model came directly from voxeljet's service center.

Even though the columns of the building can still be seen on the Lambertus square in Liége, where they remind us of the outside walls, it is difficult to get a real sense of the cathedral of Lüttich that once dominated the Bishop's Palace and the city. This will change with the recently completed bronze model of the cathedral: the true-to-life reproduction of the old cathedral will be erected on Lambertus square, enabling visitors to get a clear vision of this impressive building.

The bronze model rests on a 1.2 meter platform and measures 1.35 meters in height, 1 meter in width and 2 meters in length. It weighs approximately 600 kg. Model builder and designer in charge Pierre Jacob relied on state-of-the-art technologies to produce this model: "We performed a three-dimensional scan of an already existing wooden model. To obtain the truest possible replica of the original, we subsequently interpreted and reproduced the dimensions with the help of software programs, and also completed them with regard to the historical elements for which records are no longer available."

Plastic model

Detailed view of the cathedral

Detailed view of the cathedral

Cast of the cathedral

Bronze model: 2000 x 1000 x 1350 mm

Visitors to see the cathedral

Using the reconstructed CAD data, the voxeljet service center started to produce a plastic model. Step by step, the 3D precision printers built the various molds for the building in PMMA plastic, a material designed specifically for investement casting applications. The molds were assembled to produce a complete model of the cathedral through the investment casting process.

The foundry Fonderie dárt Harzé was just as impressed with the quality of the PMMA plastic model and ist richness of detail as was the designer in charge, Pierre Jacob. The bronze cast also turned out perfectly, so that the historic jewel of the "Cité ardente", the Lambertus Cathedral, has again become an object of admiration, at least at a scale of 1:100.